So I was thinking about the ending of Witch Amusement, and of how much more I enjoyed the director’s prior two series, 2005’s Delightful Girl Choon Hyang and 2006’s My Girl. And since both of those were written by the Hong sisters screenwriting team, Hong Jung Eun and Hong Mi Ran, I naturally thought to their first series after My Girl: Fantasy Couple (환상의커플) (aka Couple or Trouble), which ended its run in December 2006.

It also reminded me of an interview with Fantasy Couple’s PD, Kim Sang Ho, which I’d read months ago and found endlessly fascinating, regarding the process of actually producing these dramas. It also shed some light on the behind-the-scenes issues that explained some of the choices they made in the drama’s storyline. It was so interesting (to me) I’d posted up the translation on soompi, so I’m reposting it here behind the cut.

Where Witch Amusement is an example of good directing style bogged down by weak writing, I consider Fantasy Couple the opposite — mostly solid, funny writing hampered by goofy directing choices. It’s no wonder PD Jeon Ki Sang and the Hong sisters work best together.

I was surprised, reading the article, at exactly how pressed for time these productions are. Generally, I knew they start shooting about a month before the first air date, but as the drama progresses, they inevitably fall behind — so they write, film, and edit the episodes while they’re still airing. Fantasy Couple seems a bit extreme in how far it ran behind schedule, and the PD does in fact sound very slightly delusional, but I wondered if the same circumstances could apply to Witch Amusement.

That’s not an excuse for sucky storytelling, because many other dramas operate under the same circumstances and produce adequate, sometimes wonderful, results. But it does help explain the nonsense that occurs — if the production is hurtling along in real time, there’s very little room for error, and little time to stop and reorganize. You’ve just got to go with what you’re doing, and pray for the best.

For the uninitiated, here’s a brief Fantasy Couple background:

STORY: Based on the Goldie Hawn movie Overboard, a rich, horribly snooty heiress Anna (Han Ye Seul) loses her memory in an accident. Her beleaguered husband Billy (Kim Sung Min), on the verge of divorcing her, takes her disappearance as a boon and rejoices. Anna washes up with no clue as to her identity — and in order to get revenge for indignities inflicted upon him by Anna, the hard-working everyman Chul Soo (Oh Ji Ho) decides to pretend Anna is his girlfriend and takes her home to be his housekeeper and nanny for his three orphaned nephews. Hilarity ensues.

Here’s the article (pics not from the original article):

Fantasy Couple Special Edition Spectacular!
How did this unique fantasy romance come to life?

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Inside the offices of MBC’s drama department, PD Kim Sang Ho sits across the table from me after the airing of Fantasy Couple. We chat for about an hour, when the head of MBC’s drama department, Jung Woon Hyun, tosses out a joke as he retreats: “Why don’t you do the interview inside the director’s office? Isn’t it embarrassing to do it out here in the common area?” To which Kim Sang Ho replies, “Hey, what do you take Na Sang Shil for?” In the interview, he revealed that Na Sang Shil is his own persona, and the expression on his face overlapped with upraised eyes like Sang Shil’s to show: the male Na Sang Shil!

Here is the full interview with Kim Sang Ho, PD of Fantasy Couple.

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.INTERVIEWER: Although the program’s ratings weren’t exceptionally high, the internet reaction was considerable. There was a tremendous amount written in the Fantasy Couple gallery of DC Inside, did you see?

DIR. KIM SANG HO: I even chatted there. I went in with a nickname, and people didn’t believe me and were asking for verification (from site staff or actors whose identities had been officially confirmed), so I made a note on cyworld. Those people asked for spoilers not to be released, but there were slight hints like “It will probably snow in Namhae, right?” (Laughs)

Were you in Namhae for all of the drama’s filming? It couldn’t have been easy to edit while filming.

For the last four weeks, on Sundays I came back up [to Seoul]. I took the morning plane up, and then the redeye/morning flight back down to Namhae. Originally, I wanted to set up an editing office in Namhae, but that didn’t work out as I’d wanted. Instead, I would do some preliminary editing on what we shot, and send the tapes along with extras or staff members going up to Seoul. If those got the okay, I’d look at the capture board which would be uploaded to an online site, and I’d make the final editing decisions via phone call. Because Sunday (the 16th episode) was practically done in real time, I arrived at 10am and went to the editing room myself. For Saturday’s broadcast I wasn’t there so a lot got cut. Personally, I feel the most disappointed with the 15th and 5th episodes.

In the director’s cut of the DVD, do you plan to include additional portions for those that got cut?

Yes. I plan to, for scenes that were cut, and also scenes where the wrong music was used. In the 15th episode, in the scene intercutting Anna (Han Ye Seul) looking for the cell phone Chul Soo (Oh Ji Ho) bought her, and Chul Soo remembering Anna while touching the dial on the electric heating pad, the music used was a complete mistake. Of all the 16 episodes, that wrongly used music is the top example. Eventually, if you see that scene properly, it should have double the emotional impact… (Laughs)

In that scene, the sound of the phone flipping open and the heating pad dial turning was so similar, it was really funny.

In that scene, sad music should have been quietly laid in the background, but the song was light-hearted and strange. Watching it on a small monitor on set, I was incredibly upset.

Still, it seems on the whole, there was a lot of consideration put into the music. The music selection was also good in “Secret Lovers” [비밀남녀]. When Choi Do Kyung (Kwon Oh Joong) has failed to embezzle 3 billion and is sitting, stooped over, “Creep” played softly, and in the scene where Kim Joon Woo (Kim Seok Hoon) dances at the art center, “I’d Rather Dance With You” by the Kings of Convenience plays. The melody and lyrics fit the atmosphere just right.

Yes. Only the music supervisor is new to my staff. They are all people I’ve worked with before, so they know what I want. Back then, “Creep” was chosen by the writer, and I picked the song for Kim Joon Woo’s theme. But there are still a lot of things I feel disappointed about with “Secret Lovers.”

“Secret Lovers” was your first broadcast miniseries, wasn’t it? What did you find lacking about it?

I couldn’t quite command my staff then. This time, I got all my staff and actors completely on the same page with my instructions. Compared to the actors of “Secret Lovers,” I talked a lot more with my actors this time. Sang Shil is my persona. Ye Seul sshi knew this… I miss Sang Shil. (Laughs)

I wasn’t too disappointed with Anna’s last scene… but Chul Soo’s reminiscing scene (when he finds the money Sang Shil had hidden all around the house) was the last scene with Sang Shil. All through filming, Ye Seul gained confidence and her acting improved a lot. It was like she consumed and absorbed this character. There were many scenes where she didn’t sleep, or was dropped into water, but she never once grew irritated.

There were really a ton of scenes where Han Ye Seul was dropped underwater.

There was a separate director for the underwater filming scenes. That person had done quite a lot of dramas before, but he said there were just two actresses who had successfully shot scenes fully submerged, up to 5 meters deep, without any support equipment. Lee Na Young (“Island”) and Han Ye Seul (“Fantasy Couple”)… So, in the beginning we all called her “action star Han Ye Seul” and told her for her next project, she must do an action role… (Laughs)

.Remember the scene where Anna breaks Solomon’s fishbowl? We needed that to be a full shot [all in one take], so I said, “If we can’t do it in one go, we can’t do it.” So we laid out a blanket and rehearsed it several times. Although we did have four Solomons… (Everyone laughs). I said we’d try filming it once, but Anna broke it right the first time. There were occasionally times like that where I felt we had a ghost helping us along. When something went unbelievably well, for instance, like when filming was made difficult by the sun’s movement. There was a situation when the weather was cloudy and we were using white balance while filming, but suddenly the weather turned sunny and we needed to redo the settings even though we didn’t have time. At that time, these long, thin clouds formed and covered the sun, moving very slowly. Until that scene was finished.

Ah, this? It’s Anna’s manicure… I painted it on my fingernail to see the color. I was feeling sad about parting with Sang Shil, so I told myself, “I’ll just remember you as long as this color stays on my fingernail,” but it hasn’t erased yet. (Laughs) I take a lot of consideration into the colors that show onscreen, so I control them. I absolutely wouldn’t allow them to wear white or black. They could use those colors while deliberating, but they don’t look great onscreen. This winter, apparently black is in style, so in the beginning of filming, all the stylists came carrying black clothes. I changed them all to colorful clothes.

Looking at Sang Shil’s clothes, you have checkered stockings with a purple skirt, a sweater with polka-dots on a sky-blue background. There were lots of unique clothes. Did you specify these things too?

Yes. I like choosing those things. There was a windy scene we called the “rising storm scene,” when Yu Kyeong (Park Han Byul) and Sang Shil meet, in which we used red and blue to contrast. In the 6th episode, Kang Ja (Jung Soo Young) and Sang Shil are together by the rice field with their flowers, and they’re both dressed in similar pink tones to match, and I wanted viewers to get the sense that they were “silver bell sisters.”

Then there’s the scene where the kids are sick and Yu Kyeong comes to make them rice porridge. Both of them were dressed in red then, but it was to show the contrast between them. It’s the same color, but Sang Shil can’t even cook rice porridge; the viewers empathize with her sense of loss, but the mixed colors, worn as though she didn’t know how to match them, contributes to the effect.

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It seems you really made full use of the actors’ qualities to show them at their best, whether it’s their acting or facial expressions. Han Ye Seul’s particular hard speech patterns fit the character remarkably well.

In the beginning, I controlled Sang Shil’s speech, gestures and the expression in her eyes by first demonstrating them. After all, men know exactly what kind of women they like. (Laughs) Later, the whole country became familiar with the perfectly captured look in her eyes, and that angle of her look became well-known. Ye Seul’s acting solidified in the 6th episode in the scene when Sang Shil drinks rice wine, and I saw it and thought, “That’s it.”

Another important scene, in episode 10, is when Sang Shil is laying on the couch after trying to look after the sick children. I wanted to look on her slowly, to capture her feeling that “I’m no help in this household.” She really did well there. Up to the 15th episode, if either Ye Seul or I were not satisfied, I wouldn’t sound the okay [wrap the scene]. I think that was the best perspective.

It seems you felt pressed for time, since you’ve expressed the wish that you could have made episodes 15 or 16 a bit better if you had had sufficient time.

We only had two days to shoot episode 16. There was nothing we could do, but in the latter half, my nickname was “If we expand, there will be 70 cuts.” For instance, in the scene where Anna separates from the children, the scene has about fifty cuts. Because we had to get the shots we needed, we would film keeping the camera still, and the staff wouldn’t know what I was filming. There was no time.

In episode 16 when the snow first starts falling, it should have been filmed in an elaborate sequence, but the show was to be broadcast the next day. It was disappointing to have to reinforce the snow and sky with CG. But behind me, the staff was saying, “Hey, it’s good that this isn’t the first episode.” If I could have had more time, I would have shot that for four days. (Laughs)

Also, the order that we edited things was changed a lot. Because it was nearly done in real time, I couldn’t do the final edit. Because I shot things in a different order, there was no time to switch things, and the tapes were divided into separate volumes. The first part would be in the middle of being broadcast, while the latter part would be in the middle of editing (the second time in MBC drama history)…

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In “Secret Lovers,” there were a lot of details put into the sets. To make the room seem like a real room, you have the poor story writer, whose small mirror has a cut-out clipping of Joanne [aka J.K.] Rowling, and the father’s room has a lot of old cassette tapes. It feels like there’s really a person who’s been living here for a long time. In Fantasy Couple, to make the house seem more like the children’s home, you have the children’s crayon scribblings on the walls.

I pay a lot of attention to the set details. I’ve particularly learned much from the director Hwang In Roi (director of MBC Drama since 1990). For instance, outdoor scenes are so detailed they can only cause problems, so we had to finish things up on sets. Breathing life into things to make them seem real, and making these characters natural, can be supported by the set.

Since the time I was an assistant director, I really enjoyed taking care of set details, like props or scribblings on walls. What kinds of props could we come up with for “Money oriented Chul Soo”? Thinking about it, because there are children in his house, I said, “Hey, tell them to scribble on the walls” and the staff went and drew on the walls. So then, I said, “The nephews! Not you guys. Tell the kids to do it!” (All laugh) The children drew all those themselves.

Also, because our drama had a strong sense of fantasy, the doors were blue to make it a slightly fairytale-like space. In any case, the drama needed to walk back and forth between the boundaries of reality and fantasy, so we thought about the parts where we could emphasize the fantasy characteristics.

There were a ton of scenes with running or chasing. Normally we would see a full shot, two-shot, and the feet running. But in Fantasy Couple, you showed long shots and full shots for the entire scene. Every now and then, these scenes make the mood seem surreal.

To me, the most important sequence was the “shovel scene.” In episode 1, scene 18, Jang Chul Soo is hit with the shovel. When you talk of “holding up a shovel,” then frame out to “the man is hit with the shovel,” people think “Huh?” They think, “If he’s hit with a shovel, doesn’t he die?” In the shovel-hitting scene, we used a high-speed camera, so the scene appears in slow-motion, and it gives the drama more of a fantasy feel. If the audience feels approval of that scene, I felt that they would be accepting of whatever comical scenes would follow. This scene was like the door to the fantasy world. I shot that for three days and 141 cuts. Although it was called a “horror scene,” this is where, in the end, Jang Chul Soo and Anna meet again. The staff was moved by that.

With the repetition of chase scenes, we saw some of the parts expand bit by bit. At first, Billy (Kim Sung Min) and Kang Ja are just running, but later they slow down their running movements, as a passing woman walks by at regular speed with a “What the…?” expression on her face.

Even Leonardo DiCaprio entered into the world of Fantasy Couple (laughs).

The same goes for Anna and Chul Soo’s Sky Cell Phone parody. Sang Shil’s parody was met with some skepticism by the writers, but I just shot that without telling the writers… (Laughs) That only took about 30 minutes to shoot. But the sun had already set, so we edited in some shots picked up on another day. The latter part was revised.

Do you normally film very quickly?

There were lots of cases where I had to do that. I was going crazy over all sunset scenes. At the end of episode 14 when Sang Shil falls into the swimming pool, I only had 40 minutes to shoot 42 cuts. It felt like I was running the 100 meter dash. Same goes for the scene in episode 10 where they turn in front of the lighthouse, and episode 12 where the sun was setting, that I felt like I was “warring against the sun.” Since it’s winter and the days are short, I was chasing everything here and there.

It seems you’re careful about the scripts you choose. Do you work a lot together with the writers?

When it comes to the characters or plot, that’s up to the writers, and I add to that. Up through episode 10, when I had doubts I asked them to revise the script. After episode 10, time became more urgent and I had no time to do that. The writers wrote while monitoring what was shown onscreen, so I think they kept the feel and rhythm of the series going.

The staff would occasionally say, “It takes forever to shoot the scenes I thought would shoot quickly, and the scenes it seems would take a long time are shot quickly.” That’s because of the difference between what is written in the script and the picture in my head. I started to be able to see how to film certain parts just by looking at the dialogue, and the writers would also look at what I’d filmed and apply that in writing the scripts. Sang Shil’s actions, and reinforcing Sang Shil-like behavior, gradually became part of me. On location, observing Ye Seul, there were many things she created on her own.

In terms of production schedule or perfecting your work, it may be better working with a private production company, but there surely are merits to watching the broadcasts and getting reactions and approval, since you can accommodate those into the continuing production.

That’s true. Although a miniseries fundamentally has limits to its virtues, you can adapt and move in accordance with the viewers’ reactions. Of course, private productions are nice, but in that case you can’t receive those reactions, so there’s the chance for opposition to be harsher and cause more grief. In the beginning, we had some casting issues, so I’m disappointed that we couldn’t start a bit earlier.

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Of all places, why did you choose to film in Namhae?

In the beginning, it was purely because I was able to borrow the resort. When we went there, they were in the middle of construction and it caused quite a headache, and it wasn’t a cooperative atmosphere… If it wasn’t for that, there was no reason to go to Namhae. But, the weather in Namhae was very helpful. For two days, we had continuous rain and it looked like we wouldn’t be able to make the broadcast, but for the period that we were there filming, it rained just twice. Once was the day we were setting things up, and the other was a day we weren’t filming. It seemed like a miracle. We had a lot of help from the heavens. When it was time for the “rising storm scene” I mentioned earlier, the skies were covered in dark clouds and captured the mood. If it was windy we used the wind, and if the sun came out we used that. In the epilogue scene with Chul Soo and Sang Shil sitting on the beach, the sky was incredibly beautiful. In the scene where it snowed, where we were shooting all over in every which way, I thought if we were forgiven by the heavens… (laughs)

I was a bit dubious when you said that even the writers, Hong Jung Eun and Hong Mi Ran, stayed in Namhae. I thought writers’ work was usually to just write the draft and make the revisions.

That was them fulfilling my request. Since the writers were with us in Namhae, they would come to the locations, wander around, and wrote the bus station next to Namhae Hospital into the script. However, I didn’t like the look of that onscreen. In the end, I looked around for locations, and found the “Do Ma Bus Station.” Maybe they liked it, because afterward that kept appearing in the scripts. (Laughs) Still, I really liked the meaning of the bus station. In this place where I can leave, I’m also able to wait. It’s also the place that borders separation and meeting.

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In the first part, Billy’s acting seemed too over-the-top, but in the latter portion, when his acting switched to more a traditional style in showing his disappointed love, it seemed strategically planned. When Billy carries away the stiffly unmoving Mr. Gong (Kim Kwang Kyu) easily without any effort, it was like the laughter doubled. From the start, was it your thought to change the acting?

Yes, Fantasy Couple has to seem like Fantasy Couple. It’s the same thing in the scene near the end, when Kang Ja, who’s been bothering Anna, “ddengs” her. In the script, she was supposed to touch her with the “ddeng” lightly, but I told her to do it as though the entire world could hear the sound. You might know if you’ve seen my prior works, but I like playing things with a straight face.

What do you mean, playing things with a straight face?

Um… you know, playing things straight. (Laughs) Such as, in my Best Theater “My Brother Has Returned,” there’s a full shot at the grave, and Jung Joon drinks alcohol and collapses…

I’m interested in the scenes you’ve made that are customarily used in melodramas that are slightly twisted to bring out laughs. Deok Ku’s mother (Lee Mi Young) gets up after doing her business [peeing] in a field of reeds, when Mr. Gong, who doesn’t know this, recalls the face of his beloved noonim [formal way of saying “noona”] from long ago. In “Secret Lovers,” there’s a scene with Kim Joon Woo, who’s missing Young Ji (Han Ji Hye) and mistakes someone else for her, shouting out “Young Ji sshi!” But it turns out to be someone who doesn’t even resemble her, and is her father (Lee Jung Kil).

It’s fun. That’s what it means to play things with a straight face. When we needed things like that, even the animals acted well, and I became a master at directing animals. (Laughs)

In the last epilogue on the beach, Kkot-soon [the dog] is sleeping with its legs sticking straight out, and it was really a knocked-down dog face.

Then, she really was sleeping. I’ll have to put a cut scene from episode onto the DVD with Kkot-soon’s excellent performance. If you feed Kkot-soon, she goes to sleep. So while filming, if Kkot-soon falls asleep, I’d say, “Turn the camera! Get Anna’s shot!” Also, you could hold a piece of food just outside the shooting angle and Kkot-soon would stand right up. (Laughs)

Usually, Princess doesn’t move at all, but there was a way to make her run when we had to shoot those scenes. If you put her in front of her house, she’ll crawl in that direction. So we’d move her house bit by bit. There were a lot of special effects we did physically instead. In episode 9, there’s a scene with Billy proposing to Anna 100 times with the changing seasons behind him. This scene was to be done all in one shot, so we had crew members on a ladder sprinkling snow and rain. While we were shooting, the crew started laughing so much that the tempo got drawn out.

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It seems like you like comedy. Is there a work you like that influenced you?

It changes every time, but I like Kitano Takeshi (he plays things with a straight face), and I like Tarantino’s movies. Lately I’ve been watching Stanley Kubrick movies, and wow, he’s really a genius. In directing horror scenes, I gained a lot by observing “The Shining.”

Before starting Fantasy Couple, I saw a lot of “ER.” It wasn’t just to watch steadicam work, but also because there are a lot of people with a lot of established relationships. I saw how they showed those relationships in the shots. While watching the original story that Fantasy Couple is based on, “Overboard,” I fell asleep in the first 20 minutes. So I don’t know how that ends.

In comedy, timing is the most important thing. If you’re one second late, or early, the laugh loses all its effect. It seems like that correlates with what you said before, about playing things with a straight face.

That’s true. To me, the most important thing is editing. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to edit a lot of this drama, but the life of comedy is in the editing. Things like Kang Ja’s ice tag were actually very short in real life, so I changed it.

Now that the drama is over, you’ll probably want to rest, but is there a drama you’re preparing after that?

I’ll have to rest for a while. Until this manicure goes away… If it erases, I’ll have to keep applying it. Is there some place I can get this same color? (Laughs)

For now, I want to try “Hyang Dan Jeon” [a book from the Chosun era?] in one act. Actually, I think Hyang Dan would have liked [the historical] Lee Mong Ryong. Because she wanted to be with Lee Mong Ryong, she was manipulating the slightly dumb Choon Hyang — that kind of story. There are characters I’d like to work on with the actors I’ve used before, but please let this be off-the-record. (Laughs)

Thank you for your time. We will look forward to great works from the director and the actors in the future.

Yes, thank you. While we were rehearsing, we said this. “We’re a foreign baseball team. At one time, there was reason for our names to be popular, but because of failure, had to rest for one year, and the four lead characters all had antis… Even if we can’t win the title, we’re satisfied with making it to the final round.” A big part of achieving the result is the players having faith in the director and following along. They’re friends I’m thankful for.

I like reading Behind The Scenes stuff like this. From this article, it seems that the PD has some control over the script too. He/She can choose to film in a different way to depict a personal preference in the end product too. So the end product is a product of Writers handing off their script to the PD who adds their personal touch to it and then to the Editors who will choose whatever cuts they need. When it is so rushed like this, the directors might not have enough time to check all of the edits before it is broadcasted. So does it seem wrong to blame the writers for a bad end product? hmm..what if the script has changed a lot since the hand-off?

Thank you javabeans. That was an interesting behind-the-scene take from the director’s perspective. Personally, i am still perplexed about:
1. the reasoning behind Jae Hee’s wardrobe? (besides possibly budget crisis).. but alas, KJH and DO had quite a few good pieces and of course HGI and JHB’s wardrobe was to-die-for..so that couldn’t be it.
2. the MIA ending. Mimimum requirement for any story is a beginning, followed by a middle (often very dragyyyyy in K-drama) and an end. A lot of dramas have been saved by a great ending. Who knows what happened and who were responsible, it did start out so well! In a way, this seems disrespectful to the viewers and even to the actors/production crew. On a lighter note, it sure gave us a lot of things to write and laugh about…AND IT MADE YOU (Javabeans) AN OVERNIGHT WEB-CELEBRITY (YAHOOOO!).
Even though i have been coming down quite hard on the show, WYH did have some touching, cute and memorable scenes (…brushing aside the fact that i have seen them before in previous K-dramas!). Entertaining in its own crazy/lunatic way.. but what a show it could have been!

thanks sarah for posting this. its an interesting perspective and read. hahaha the PD is so amusing. he looks really professional and knows what he wants. so i wonder what went wrong here. PD seems like a person who takes his productions seriously. lol. id like to see more from this PD better than WYH. hahha that secret couple series sounds intriguing, like i wanna check it out.. like icechocolate says chukahae on ur blog hits!!

thanks for posting this article! cos i really liked fantasy couple for all its funny parts. and now i finally understand why i felt the ending was anti-climax. haha. thanks lots for the time u took! =)

Yup, thanks a lot for posting this article with translation .it tells me a lot more stuff about fantasy couple behind e scence n directors view.Like it so much but wouldn’t it be better if this show is longer than 16 episodes.

hi! I was able to finish this soap. Although some parts of it is kinda dragging – there are really funny parts. The lead girl seemed rather looked crazier than her crazy so-called sister. anyways, thanks for all the info!

hi! i really loved this drama because it was touching and funny yet cute at the same time. i fast forwarded all the scenes between sang shil and billy tho… he was annoying. any more songs from this drama? This site is the BEST tho because it gives you a lil of everything thanks so much!